Roseanne Is Still Running For President
Back in February Roseanne Barr (of early ’90s television fame) filed to run for U.S. President as the Green Party’s candidate, and four months later she’s still in the race.
According to USA Today, Roseanne is still moving forward with her presidential bid despite the fact that her Green Party opponent, physician Jill Stein, appears to be locked in for the nomination. Stein has secured the votes necessary to cinch the Presidential Bid over her two opponents, Roseanne and Kent Mesplay, according to the California Green Party’s website.
Indeed, on 5 June Roseanne came in second to Stein in the California primary with 40% of votes to Stein’s 48.6%. This prompted the former television star to announce that she would instead run for the “Green Tea Party,” as reported by Mercury News.
However, it looks like over the past couple days Roseanne has changed her mind and remains committed to the Green Party ticket. On Wednesday her spokeswoman, Anita Stewart, announced in an email that “…Candidate Barr is still campaigning for the Green Party. I don’t have any other official word at this time. She has definitely not dropped from the race. If and when we get any changes to this, we will put out a press release immediately.”
What, you may ask, does Roseanne promise for her Presidency? Legalized marijuana, support for Palestinians, student loan debt forgiveness, and the closure of U.S. military bases on foreign soil. Via Twitter, she promised to “put the Electoral College and its racist foundation into the mainstream dialogue of this election cycle.”
Somehow, her prospects seem slim. Even if she manages to secure the Green Party nomination, third-party candidates do not have a history of success in the United States; since its inception the United States has operated under a two-party system, with a brief exception in the early 1800s.
If the reader is hoping to vote for Roseanne, you may need to settle for a write-in on the ballot. Whoever wins the nomination, the Green Party candidate will only appear on the ballot in a little over twenty states.
